Cherry-Pick & Revert

Cherry-Pick

Cherry-pick applies specific commits from one branch to another, useful for backporting fixes or selectively applying changes.

Basic Cherry-Pick

# Apply a single commit
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Apply multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc1234 def5678 ghi9012

# Apply a range of commits
git cherry-pick abc1234^..def5678

# Apply without committing
git cherry-pick -n abc1234

Cherry-Pick Options

# Edit commit message
git cherry-pick -e abc1234

# Add "cherry picked from" to message
git cherry-pick -x abc1234
# Message includes:
# (cherry picked from commit abc1234...)

# Keep original author
git cherry-pick abc1234  # Author preserved by default

# Sign off
git cherry-pick -s abc1234

Handling Conflicts

# When conflicts occur
git cherry-pick abc1234
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in file.js

# Resolve conflicts manually
git status
# Edit conflicting files

# Continue after resolving
git add .
git cherry-pick --continue

# Abort cherry-pick
git cherry-pick --abort

# Skip this commit
git cherry-pick --skip

Cherry-Pick from Another Branch

# Find commits to cherry-pick
git log --oneline feature-branch

# Cherry-pick to current branch
git checkout main
git cherry-pick feature-branch~3..feature-branch

# Cherry-pick specific file changes
git cherry-pick -n abc1234
git reset HEAD
git add specific-file.js
git commit -m "Cherry-pick specific file"

Reverting Commits

Revert creates a new commit that undoes changes, safely reverting without rewriting history.

Basic Revert

# Revert a single commit
git revert abc1234

# Revert without committing
git revert -n abc1234

# Revert multiple commits
git revert abc1234 def5678

# Revert a range (oldest to newest)
git revert abc1234^..def5678

Revert Merge Commits

# Revert a merge commit (must specify parent)
git revert -m 1 merge_commit_hash
# -m 1 means keep changes from first parent (usually main)
# -m 2 means keep changes from second parent (merged branch)

# Check which parent is which
git log --oneline --graph merge_commit_hash^-

Revert Multiple Commits

# Revert last 3 commits
git revert HEAD~3..HEAD

# Revert without creating multiple commits
git revert --no-commit HEAD~3..HEAD
git commit -m "Revert last 3 commits"

# Revert in reverse order to avoid conflicts
git revert HEAD
git revert HEAD~1
git revert HEAD~2

Handling Revert Conflicts

# When revert conflicts
git revert abc1234
# CONFLICT...

# Resolve conflicts
git status
# Edit files

git add .
git revert --continue

# Or abort
git revert --abort

Undoing a Revert

# Revert the revert!
git revert revert_commit_hash

# Or reset if not pushed
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Cherry-Pick vs Revert Use Cases

Use Cherry-Pick When	Use Revert When
Backporting fixes	Undoing pushed changes
Moving commits between branches	Rolling back features
Selective commit application	Maintaining history integrity
Creating hotfixes	Team collaboration

Practical Examples

# Backport a bugfix to release branch
git checkout release/1.0
git cherry-pick main~2  # Apply fix from main

# Roll back a feature in production
git checkout main
git revert feature-commit-hash
git push origin main

# Apply hotfix to multiple versions
for branch in release/1.0 release/1.1 release/2.0; do
  git checkout $branch
  git cherry-pick hotfix-commit
done

Best Practices

• Use -x with cherry-pick to track origin
• Revert instead of reset for shared branches
• Test cherry-picked commits thoroughly
• Document cherry-picks in commit messages
• Consider conflicts when cherry-picking old commits